UNI finishes with 64-59 win on Wednesday

 EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Trailing by 15 points in the second half, the University of Evansville men’s basketball team rallied to make it a 1-possession game before Northern Iowa fended off the challenge to take a 64-59 win over the Purple Aces on Wednesday evening at the Ford Center.

Leading UE (5-14, 1-7 MVC) was Evan Kuhlman and Blaise Beauchamp, who scored 13 points apiece.  Kuhlman was 5-of-9 from the field and hit three triples while Beauchamp was one off of his career scoring mark and connected on 5 of his 7 attempts.  Jawaun Newton scored 12 points while leading the team with 7 rebounds and 4 assists.  UNI (10-9, 6-3 MVC) saw AJ Green score 18 points while Nate Heise had 12 points and tied for the game high with 7 caroms.

“It was a struggle at times but there was no lack of competitiveness by our guys.  You could see that down the stretch,” UE head coach Todd Lickliter said.  “We had good contributions from everyone who played and gave ourselves a chance.  Unfortunately it is all or nothing and we came up just short.”

Northern Iowa hit their opening four shots and five of their first six on their way to an 11-3 lead just over four minutes into the game.  Shamar Givance took matters into his own hands, hitting consecutive baskets, including a triple at the 14-minute mark that started a 7-0 run.  Trailing 13-5, Givance knocked down a triple before finding Preston Phillips for an open layup.  Blaise Beauchamp completed the rally with a layup to get Evansville within one at 13-12 with 11:49 left in the half.

After the Aces grabbed the momentum, UNI regained their edge, scoring seven of the next eight points to go up 20-13.  Evansville scored just one point over a 6-minute stretch before Beauchamp took over.  The sophomore recorded eight out of ten points for his squad as the Aces rallied to tie it up at 23-23 with 4:13 left in the period.

With the Panthers holding onto a 28-27 edge, they reeled off the final seven tallies of the period over the final minutes to take their largest lead of the game – 35-27.  Beauchamp recorded 10 points in the half while AJ Green had 13 for the Panthers.

Another strong offensive start by UNI saw them connect on their first seven attempts from the field while stretching the lead to 51-38 over the first 6+ minutes.  Over that sequence, UNI took its largest lead of 15 points (47-32).  Blake Sisley blocked a shot by Bowen Born for the first Panther miss of the half and it was Noah Frederking taking advantage of a second-chance triple on the other end with 12:45 remaining to cut the deficit to seven.

A field goal with 9:21 left put UNI up 57-48 and it was a defensive struggle for both teams from that point.  The next score would come three minutes later when Beauchamp drained his third triple of the night, but a Noah Carter free throw solidified a 60-52 edge for UNI heading into the final four minutes.  Evansville continued to fight back when Jawaun Newton grabbed an offensive rebound before converting the ensuing attempt.  On the defensive end, Preston Phillips forced a steal and Kuhlman turned it into a 3-pointer that made it a 60-57 game with 2:20 showing on the clock.

Defensive efforts by both teams were pivotal for each squad in the final minutes.  Evansville forced three turnovers in the final two minutes while the Panthers forced two UE misses along with a turnover in the next three possessions, keeping it a 3-point game.  Trae Berhow and Carter knocked down four late free throws to seal the 64-59 victory.

A pair of road contests are on the docket for UE, starting on Saturday night with a 7 p.m. game at Missouri State.